a very long day, followed by a very un-pilgrim afternoon

After leaving Moissac, we headed to Saint Antoine, a town notable only for being really really tiny and in the middle of bloody nowhere. We cooked together (mushroom risotto, yum) and slept well. I woke up the next morning feeling a little flat. Didn't know why, but I just didn't have a lot of energy. I headed out for a supposedly easy day of 24kms to Lectoure. I took a break or a coffee after about 8kms because my legs were sore and didn't seem to be warming up. I thought a break would help - I was wrong. After that everything just went from bad to worse. I'd gotten about 50 metres away from the cafe when one of my legs started getting a shooting pain with every step. After limping along gingerly for awhile that went away and was replaced by a general, totally-consuming and awful fatigue. Not the "I've walked a really long way today" kind, but the "where the hell did this come from and how the hell am I going to make it through the next 15kms?" kind. It was like walking through wet concrete - every step was a supreme act of strength and willpower and for the first time this trip I felt worried about being able to complete the distance. As I racked my brain for a reason, I hit upon a very likely candidate - put simply, too much coffee, sugar and baguette for my normally super-healthy self to handle. Unfortunately in France, all thre of these things are way too easy to over-indulge in. Also, they taste really good... pain au chocolat,mmmmm. But clearly I was paying for it now.

After what seemed an eternity I crossed a highway and saw Lectoure, on the other side of a great hulking valley about 4kms away. Dammit! I trekked on, dragging my sorry little self along country lanes and paths and finally, finally reached L'etoile Occitane, my gite for the night. The whole place was a little bit like the movie Amelie - cute and playful and frankly after my day, the best thing I'd ever seen. I'd seen a poster for the gite earlier on the road and it said there was a jacuzzi/spa across the road. When I asked about it I discovered it was a little more than that. It turns out that Lectoure is a thermal springs town and the thermal pool was right across the street. I immediately booked in for an hour for the unbelievable sum of 5 euros.

A few of us went across together and spent a wonderful hour in the thermal pool, the sauna, the steam room and the spa. I'm guessing the original pilgrims didn't do things like this but who cares about authenticity when there are water jets to pummel sore muscles? When we emerged we were new people - new, extremely happy people.

PS I felt a lot better the next day and have cut down on my intake of the afore-mentioned foods. Bugger. Also, I haven't been bitten by bed bugs yet but others have. I'm hoping my luck holds!